After worst ever poll debacle, Congress mulls drastic revamp

The meeting to be chaired by party president Sonia Gandhi at the AICC headquarters. (Source: PTI)

A drastic revamp of the AICC set up is on the cards soon to get the party going after the worst debacle it faced in the just-concluded Lok Sabha polls. Setting up of a committee to examine what went wrong in the polls and the possibility of holding a ‘Chintan Shivir (brain-storming camp)’ are also being talked about.

“There are general secretaries, who have spent more than a decade in the AICC. At such a time when new energy is required, a thorough revamp is the only thing to happen,” said a party general secretary, who declined to be identified.

He also cited party President Sonia Gandhi’s remarks that “unless we undertake some structural changes, we will not be able to meet the serious challenges we face”. At a meeting of the Congress Working Committee on Monday, Gandhi was authorised to carry out a “thorough revamp” at all levels and a unanimous resolution was adopted to express total faith in the leadership of the Gandhis.

“Accountability has been talked about. Wait for the reorganisation,” was the succinct answer from party general secretary in-charge of organisation Janardan Dwivedi, who briefed the media after the meeting of the party’s apex decision-making body, which debated the way ahead. The CWC resolution pledged to the millions of Congress workers that it will create within the party opportunities and structures that will pave the way for a “thorough revamp of the organisation at all levels”.

A leader also saw “foreign conspiracy” against the country and the Congress while another suggested a CEO-like management head for AICC secretariat to improve upon its general work. The CWC meet on Monday also saw a number of members saying that a large section of corporates and the media backed BJP in the campaign for Lok Sabha elections.

The role of a “hostile media” had also come in for scrutiny at the meet with most of the leaders feeling that there was a slant in favour of BJP in general reporting.